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Salem
Originally a human city, Salem took a different path than its sisters. It was a democracy that became a magicracy, and since then all those gifted with magick, human or not, have been welcomed. Rules here are very strict. Districts The Artistocracy At the border, encircling the city and centered at five points are the estates of five major families within Salem. These are the Aristocracy, those whose duties lie in politics and governence due to the ease of old money. This area enjoys wide open spaces, views, rolling plains and clear skies. It represents a timeless past of Salem, and its proud history. The Capitalists Just within the border of the Artistocracy lies five more estates which form, stylistically, a second pentagram within the first established by the aristocracy. This area is the property of five other families who operate a large number of businesses or own prominent features located within the city. Simply known as the Capitalist district, it is a contrast to the Artistocracy, a symbol of future progress and growth. Salem University At the very center of the city lies its most important and known feature, its university. Mostly an institution of liberal arts and sciences, Salem University has become one of the favored institutions for the education of Visual arts, Theatre, Dance, Magickal theory, Spellcraft, Religion, History, and a wide variety of other majors. Students are required to live on campus their first two years but may rent one of the apartments outside of the college during their junior or senior year. The University itself is quite large though the school only accepts and adverage of 8000 students a semester. The Ring District Conveniently surrounding the University is Salem's shopping district. Clothing, living, restaurants, the ring district is always a popular area day or night. The location of the Ring District provides perfect marketing for both the University students and the residential district. The Ring District contains many stores owned and opperated by members of The Capitalist District, though many prefer the family owned alternatives, the most popular of which is a Pho den on the west side with an exceptional broth. Both the Residential and Ring Districts are very rustic, with cobblestone steets, red brick buildings and old fashioned gas street lamps. On the very edge of the ring district lie the craftmens shops. A collection of forges, jewelers, and artisans popular for tourism. The Residential District Store owners, professors, students, artists, mages and residents all own property in the Residential District of Salem. Housing mainly consists of townhouses, flats, and apartments, though a few houses do exist. Of course, even they usually rent rooms to students. The Residential District is said to be quite peaceful at night, and benches lining the streets provide a comfortable view of the sky, which is especially beautiful at night. A cornerstone of the Residential District is the Turpentine Beltower, named as such when a careless Figurative art student spilled an entire bottle of turpentine on the copper bell during its construction at the university, permanently staining a large section of it chemically. Some say the ring every hour is all the more pleasant for it. The Mages Respite The Final and much less dense circle of Salem is the Mages Respite, a district dedicated to the practice and further utilization of magicks. Whether for the purposes of experimentation or the simple traditional continuation of Magick, the Aristocracy and Capitalists often make annual donations to portions of the district. It is divided around the city according to utilizations of Magick: Practical for the everyday use of Magick, Experimental for the discovery of new uses, sources, or forms of magick, Figurative for the purely artistic use of magick, Alchemic for the use of magic as pertaining to change rather than creation, and Historical for the recovery and understanding of lost magicks. Transport The majority of transportation in Salem is walking. Most useful services are close enough to eachother and streets are small enough that any other form would be a waste of time and space. Bicycles are another popular form for those in a hurry or traveling a slightly longer distance, and rick-shaws stay in place of taxi's. Mages tend to prefer a flashier means of getting around and use the opportunity to perfect propulsionary magic. Those in the Artistocratic and Capitalist districts take carrige. Energy Magick powers most of the city, pooled and distributed by the university at its center the scholars there have discovered ways to provide the services of magick to those not magickally inclined themselves. At first this might seem like a waste of a power often severely limited in individuals, but the simple fact is that the sheer concentration of magickal energies contained within the walls of the university and the city at large demands some form of consistent outlet. It is considered fairly common place, even for the less affluent citizens to have several magickally powered lights and other amenities in their homes. These often function as we might expect electronic appliances to function (though they tend more towards the dramatic in their execution of tasks and have, on occasion, been known to explode for no discernible reason). Education The college is the most obvious providing instruction primarily in the magical arts, but also in sciences and the more common arts. In addition to the college each of the major guilds provides educational opportunities for potential new members so those without magick are also free to pursue an education outside of the university. The college is open to all, though once admitted students are expected to meet with academic standards and expectations of performance in their fields of study or they will be asked to leave. For magic users, and admittance into any courses of study related to the magickal arts an aptitude test is administered twice annually by the senior faculty and acts as a measure both of progress as well as current ability. Doing well on such a test means a chance at being included in the more revolutionary research at the university and the eventual passing of such a test earns a student the title of master within their particular field and often comes hand in hand with an offer of staff position or research position within the university. Even if this is refused for some alternative pursuit the mark and title remain to distinguish the mage within the city. There are similar tests and titles for the non magickal fields of study, but these carry far less prestige within the city of Salem and are not considered as meaningful as degrees earned from other schools such as the university in Howldon. The Guild schools function more or less as trade schools. They are considered some of the best for various crafts and artistic pursuits, though they are unlikely to spend much time teaching their students about areas of study not directly applicable to their chosen craft. This education is purely professional and success within the program tends only to translate into membership and rank within the guild. Any learning beyond the skills of a trade is expected to be handled by the individual on their own time. Political There are 3, or technically 4 main powers within the city though most of them only indirectly influence policy decisions. The first, and most direct of these is the official government. The city has a single governor (that name needs changing) that is elected, for life, to the position by the parliamentary body. Beneath him is the parliament, which consists of 25 distinguished figures elected to it by the people of the city. In name these men vote on and direct the policies of the city, though in functional practice they act primarily as advisors to the governor who often drives policy direction for the city. Parliament is elected once every 10 years, but any seat can be resigned willingly, or forced to resign by the people of the city. The governor can also resign whenever he chooses (at which point he will remain only long enough for a new one to be elected) or can be forced to resign by the people. Next is the college. While not directly of any political power, because the college is such a large and influential part of the city both the governor and the parliament consult with the headmasters of the university before acting on any policy that might have an impact on the schools operations. For the most part the school does not take an interest in the day to day goings on of the city, but in the past, when angered, they have forced a complete turnover of the then sitting government because of unwelcome regulation of their operations and research. For the most part this relationship is symbiotic. The school provides the government with a near limitless ability to creatively and effectively solve problems facing the city through magical means, and the government ensures that the university never wants for anything. Next are the guild halls. Again these hold no direct claim to political power, but because they control such a large portion of the city’s economy they hold considerable influence over the standing government. Again this is primarily a symbiotic relationship. The Guild halls regulate themselves, controlling a vast majority of crime in house and in return the government ensures an environment in which they can continue to thrive. Finally, the 10 major houses. While often members of a sitting parliament can come from branches of these estates the core families tend to turn a disdainful eye on the government. They are not interested in the mundane tastes of city management and so do little to directly influence the direction of the city or its policy and operations. That said, because they hold large influence over large swaths of the population because of their patronage the city tends to move in the direction of their interests even without their direct involvement. Feuds between the families are often handled through the social game rather than the political game. Law & Crime Factions Because of its tendency towards a more guild based economy there is little unregulated crime within the city of Salem. This is not to say that there is no crime in the city. Among the craftsman and artisan guilds are a thieves guild and an assassins guild. These tend to keep out of the public eyes as much as they can, but they do still operate, turning a tidy profit within the city and in the surrounding areas. The government allows these guilds to exist under the singular and uncompromising condition that they maintain strict regulation both of their members and of any criminal elements operating beyond their direct control. The guilds make sure that no criminals operate without guild affiliation for very long (eliminating any who do not join), and they ensure that their own operations never become such that the people rebel against them. In actuality both the thieves guild and the assassins guild are among the biggest contributors to the upkeep and charity outreaches of the city. They put as much money back into the city as they take out of it as a way of maintaining good public relations. In addition to the guilds there is a police force within the city, or a watch. This functions primarily as a means of settling disputes between the various guilds and power factions within the city, and generally does not have to deal with anything beyond petty squabbles, ongoing grudges, or misunderstandings/disagreements. As for magical crime, the university, as well as the 10 leading families (all powerful magical families), are the ones who keep this under control. As a center of magic, not just in the city, but in the rest of the world the university in Salem goes out of its way to control the rogue elements of magick within the city. They prefer to bring rogue mages into the fold, there are few fields of magical study forbidden to students and faculty of the university. But if rouge mages are unwilling to work within the governance of the university the school acts to nullify their danger both to the non magical public as well as to the global image of mages and magick users (it is not in their best interest to turn the public against them, few of their order survived the last great purge of the magical arts). Similarly the 10 leading families act within themselves to police the use of magic within the city, working to focus it on more beneficial pursuits and working closely with the city watch whenever there is a magick based crime that must be dealt with by the government directly. Foreign Relations In a word, tense. Because of its open embrace of magick and the practice of magick Salem has never been on easy terms with the other major cities. Their protection of magic users is often seen as a direct defiance to the laws of the rest of the world, but at the same time no other city wishes another great war against magic. The city is safe because to threaten it would be to threaten the tenuous peace between people with magic and people without magic. Similarly, while other cities openly restrict and prosecute magick, the simple fact is they would much rather not have to deal with it directly than to have to constantly patrol for it and guard against it. The existence of Salem means that a majority of magick users, when confronted, will choose exile to the city rather than face punishment in places outside of it which is advantageous both for Salem as well as the rest of the world. The only common cause of sparks in foreign relations comes when Salem welcomes a wanted mage into their city. Often negotiations can be conducted to find a mutually agreeable solution to such a problem, but there are other times when disputes have escalated. Military Salem has no real need for a standing military. The mages who live within the city and those who study at the university there are well versed in the use of magic for defense and they, in combination with the various criminal guilds and the city watch would prove more than a match for most forces sent against the city. That said, since the last great war against the use and practice of magick Salem has not had any officially recorded instances of open conflict. Corruption and intrigue are far more common threats to the city and these are more easily dealt with by factions other than the military. Economy Guild based. Guilds for the major crafts, a merchant guild, guilds for the various artistic pursuits, and then criminal guilds. These all function both to provide services where there is a demand, as well as to facilitate the continued movement of wealth within the city through the application of membership fees as well as the need to purchases services from all of the other guilds (as well as pay protection to the criminal guilds) INCOMPLETE -- Royal Seal 18:20, October 15, 2013 (UTC) Category:Cities